Sheila Foster v. Robert Jesel, et al.

Whether the six-month statute of limitations for a duty-of-fair-representation claim under the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., is subject to equitable tolling when a union and its representatives repeatedly misrepresent that they are pursuing arbitration of an employee’s grievance, thereby inducing the employee’s reasonable delay in filing suit.

Whether a district court abuses its discretion by dismissing a complaint with prejudice on statute-of-limitations grounds, without permitting discovery or leave to amend, when the plaintiff has pleaded specific facts showing ongoing union misrepresentations and diligent inquiry that could support tolling under Del Costello v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 462 U.S. 151 (1983), and Fifth Circuit precedent.

Whether the Railway Labor Act’s duty-of-fair-representation doctrine preempts state-law claims for breach of contract and misrepresentation when those claims arise solely from a union’s failure to perform representational duties expressly set forth in a collective-bargaining agreement, or whether courts may instead apply uniform federal standards without selective invocation of preemption or choice-oflaw principles. LIST OF PARTIES Petitioner: SHEILA FOSTER Respondents: Robert Jesel, Mike Klemm, and IAMAW District Lodge 141.